There are plans for almost 40GW of new electricity generating capacity to start commercial operation this year in the US, according to its Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Solar will account for the largest share of new capacity at 39%, followed by wind at 31%.
About 3% of the 39.7GW capacity will come from the new nuclear reactor at the Vogtle power plant in Georgia.
Developers and plant owners expect the addition of utility-scale solar capacity to set a new record by adding 15.4GW of capacity to the grid in 2021.
This new capacity will surpass last year’s nearly 12GW increase, based on reported additions through October (^6GW) and scheduled additions for the last two months of 2020 (5.7GW), EIA said.
More than half of the new utility-scale solar photovoltaic capacity is planned for four states: Texas (28%), Nevada (9%), California (9%), and North Carolina (7%).
EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts an additional 4.1GW of small-scale solar PV capacity to enter service by the end of 2021.
Another 12.2 GW of wind capacity is scheduled to come online in 2021.
Last year, 21GW of wind came online based on reported additions through October (6GW) and planned additions in November and December (14.9GW).
Texas and Oklahoma account for more than half of the 2021 wind capacity additions.
The largest wind project coming online in 2021 will be the 999MW Traverse wind farm in Oklahoma.
The 12MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project, located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, is also scheduled to start commercial operation in early 2021.
Furthermore, EIA expects the capacity of utility-scale battery storage to more than quadruple with 4.3GW of battery power capacity additions are slated to come online by the end of 2021.
The world’s largest solar-powered battery (409MW) is under construction at Manatee Solar Energy Center in Florida; the battery is scheduled to be operational by late 2021.